Harry Nettleton’s 1907 RaCycle Pace Maker

1907 RaCycle

There are a lot of names here so lets see… This is the Pace Maker model RaCycle, and RaCycles were made by the Miami Cycle and Manufacturing company of Middleton, Ohio.

Bikes like this one followed high-wheelers onto the cobbled streets of early 1900’s America. With newly invented roller chain and pneumatic tires, this would have been a luxuriously smooth ride compared to a Penny-Farthing.

One of the selling points of the Pace Maker was the massive front chainring (equivalent to a modern 84-tooth ring) that was meant to attract attention and suggest higher speed (but the big ring was actually offset by a big back cog that ended up producing a comfortable gear ratio).

The new air-filled tires were mounted (using shellac as glue) to wooden rims (maple, I think).

Head badge

Adjustable handlebar

Oversized drivetrain

Fork pegs

42 skip-tooth chainring

A RaSaddle?

The handlebars on the Pace Maker are really cool. They pivot at the stem, and can be adjusted in width and height, depending on a rider’s desire.

Foot pegs on the front fork allowed the rider to enjoy speeding downhill on his fixed-gear bike. Sure, without your feet on the pedals to control the speed there would be no brakes, but brakes are overrated.

Racycle advertisement

Check out the old ad that we found for RaCycle bikes. The copy in old advertising and press releases like this one was so earnest. According to the manufacturer, a 1904 Worlds Fair jury “consisting of the ablest consulting and manufacturing engineers in Europe and America, were unanimous in their decision that the Racycle was the most perfectly constructed, easiest running bicycle in the world.”

However they were judged, early “safety” bicycles like this one really brought inexpensive personal transportation to the masses. They connected people with jobs and schools, connected rural areas of the country with cities, connected extended families (and liberated family members from one another).

This bike was originally owned by Harry Nettleton of Red Wing, Minnesota. Harry raised the original $16.50 purchase price by collecting clam shells from the Minnesota river and selling them to a local button factory.

By the way, if you take a look at the Iver Johnson Truss-bridge bike from the same era, you’ll note that the RaCycle was about a third of the price of the Iver Johnson.

Used Cannondale Topstone electric bike

Used Cannondale Topstone electric bike

Cannondale Topstone electric

If you’re looking for an a E-bike, there’s no reason that it has to be heavy or that it has to ride like a motor scooter. There are plenty of motor-assist bikes out there that actually ride like bicycles.

This is a nearly new 2022 Cannondale Topstone electric bike that was just traded in on an acoustic bike. It’s pretty light and the Bosch performance motor system has a lot of kick.

Originally designed as a high-performance road machine, this bike has a carbon fiber frameset and lots of high-end parts. This Topstone has even been upgraded from the original stock configuration. The curved handlebars and Shimano GRX brake/shift levers have been exchanged for a flat handlebar setup. There’s a short-travel suspension fork with a lock-out switch, perfect for gravel roads and light singletrack trails. The batteries for the motor are fresh, with only a dozen recharge cycles on the system. This is a high-performance bike featuring carbon fiber parts here and there, but there’s no reason you can’t install a cargo rack or fenders to make it more utilitarian.

Lefty Fork

GRX drivetrain

This is a medium size bike, so it will fit someone between 5’6” and 5’9” tall the best. New, this Cannondale would run you $4400. Buy this one very lightly used for only $2000 with a free tune-up and a one-year warranty.

By paul|2025-01-10T05:00:54+00:00August 28th, 2024|Electric, used bikes|Comments Off